In the newly released ATP World Rankings table, Djokovic still occupies the top of the table, leading second place Medvedev by a slight margin.
This is also Djokovic's 360th week of world number one, continuing to break the record for the longest men's tennis world number one ranking since the Open. The longest record holder in the entire tennis world is Graf's 377 weeks, and Djokovic is currently only 17 weeks away from equalizing.
However, the challenge for Djokovic was that he could not participate because he refused to be vaccinated against the new crown, was cancelled by the Australian government in January and missed the Australian Open, and many major events announced that only players who had been vaccinated against the new crown could participate.
The 37th world number one in the ATP Open era is about to appear?
According to the points rule, Djokovic's points will be deducted on February 21 at last year's Australian Open, so that Djokovic and Medvedev's match on February 21 will affect the world number one.
Djokovic competed in the ATP 500 Dubai on February 21, which was also his debut of the season. And because Dubai doesn't mandate the COVID-19 vaccine for competitors; Medvedev signed up for the ATP500 Alpulco this week, the outcome of their race will directly determine the world's first.
If Medvedev has a better record, he will ascend to the world number one throne on February 28, when ATP will usher in the 37th world number one in the Open era and the first world number one after the 90s.
Without vaccinations, where will Djokovic's next race be?
Now that the COVID-19 pandemic is raging, tennis players who do not get vaccinated will find it difficult to move forward.
While the Dubai Open doesn't force players to get vaccinated, that doesn't mean the same is true for other events. After the Australian Open announced that players must be compulsorily vaccinated against covid-19, the Indian Wells Masters (March 7) and the Monte Carlo Masters (April 11) announced the injunction. This means that these two ATP 1000 Masters games, Djokovic is destined to miss.
The other three Grand Slam tournaments, the French Open and the US Open have also announced strict control policies before, only Wimbledon still maintain an ambiguous attitude.
If Djokovic does not qualify for the French Open and the US Open after the Australian Open, even if Wimbledon defends his title, he will be doomed to lose the world number one. Once Nadal tops the French Open or U.S. Open again, it will widen the gap with Djokovic's number of Grand Slams, and as he gets older, Djokovic will lose the goat battle.
At present, Djokovic can participate in the following events: ATP500 Dubai (February 21), ATP250 Belgrade (April 18), Wimbledon (June 27).